1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of extracting and processing screen information outputted through a display of a mobile communication terminal, in which an output screen of the mobile communication terminal is extracted and merged with a previously stored device image, and an image data synthesizing the outer appearance of the mobile communication terminal and an output image is created and stored.
2. Background of the Related Art
With the advancement in the mobile communication technologies, communication methods limited to voice communication or short message services have been evolved into Internet access accomplished through a mobile communication network based on a communication protocol such as WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) or the like. As high functionality mobile communication terminals including input/output devices such as a high resolution touch screen and the like, as well as large-capacity control operating units and memory devices, are now being distributed together with rapid increases in data processing rates through the mobile communication network, processing of high-resolution images and execution of diverse multimedia supporting application programs, as well as Internet access based on TCP/IP (Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol), have begun being enabled through a wireless LAN (Local Area Network).
Since a high functionality mobile communication terminal, which is generally referred to as a smart phone, employs a high resolution touch screen and a control operating unit related thereto, high functionality mobile communication terminals typically implement a graphical user interface (GUI) comparable to those of general desktop computers, as well as to a conventional keypad type handling environment. Accordingly, convenience of user's handling and readability of the GUI are improved, and application programs capable of performing various tasks based on control operation and memory capacity, remarkably improved compared with those of conventional mobile communication terminals, can be mounted and executed.
Particularly, as Internet access of high functionality mobile communication terminals through a mobile communication network and a wireless local area network (LAN) is generalized and social network services (SNS) are expanded, information exchange between users of a mobile communication terminal is rapidly increased. As the mobile communication terminals move away from conventional functions limited to merely a communication device and advances to multimedia devices or portable computers become prevalent, users voluntarily providing or exchanging a variety of information through the Internet based on the functions and portability of the mobile communication terminal are increasing as well.
In addition, as the handling convenience, functions, user interfaces and the like, as well as the processing capacity of the hardware and the operating system of the mobile communication terminal, are remarkably enhanced compared with those of conventional mobile communication terminals, a user may freely set or modify screens, handling methods and the like, and thus mobile communication terminals are being used as a means for expressing personality of the user rather than just a communication device.
As described above, through the mobile communication terminal moving away from functions of a conventional simple communication device and developing into a portable computer, the Internet can be accessed without restriction of time and space, and in addition, all types of information exchanges including exchanges of characters, images and voices are allowed as well. Particularly, as Internet information exchange in a private sector such as a blog or an SNS service is actively performed, utilization of the mobile communication terminal has increased in all aspects of daily life, as well as in business.
As described above, since the mobile communication terminal is used as a means for expressing personality of a user, working beyond a simple communication device, users constructing personalized screens and handling environments and posting the screens or environments through a blog or an SNS service, or opening to public examples of using application programs mounted on the mobile communication terminal through the Internet are increased as well.
Examples of using the mobile communication terminal in relation to the blog and the SNS service include capturing a display screen of the mobile communication terminal, posting the display screen through the blog or the SNS service, and setting the display screen as a profile image of the SNS service. That is, when a material describing a method of using the mobile communication terminal or a method of using an application program mounted on the mobile communication terminal is posted on a blog, a display screen of the mobile communication terminal is captured and inserted in the posted material, or a distinctive background screen or the like of the mobile communication terminal is captured and used as a profile image for identifying the creator of the material posted through the SNS service.
Conventional methods of capturing a display output screen of the mobile communication terminal can be divided into a method of capturing the display output screen by handling buttons of the mobile communication terminal utilizing the functions embedded in the operating system of the mobile communication terminal 10 as shown in the upper portion of FIG. 1 and a method of capturing the display output screen by executing a separate application program and touching a handling area implemented on the touch screen. However, the two methods are slightly different only in the method of handling the mobile communication terminal 10, and it may be said that there is no notable difference in that both of the methods are performed by a capture program modularized in the operating system or mounted on the mobile communication terminal 10 in the form of an application program and extracted image information is recorded in the memory device of the mobile communication terminal 10.
Regardless of whether the capturing method is a method embedded in the operating system or a method of an application program, a conventional capture program extracts screen data 21 outputted from the display of the mobile communication terminal 10 as shown in FIG. 1, and the shape of the mobile communication terminal 10 other than the display is not included in the screen data 21.
Accordingly, in posting a screen capture image of the mobile communication terminal 10 through a blog or an SNS service, the type of the mobile communication terminal 10 cannot be identified and difference from the other photographed images cannot be expressed only by the captured display screen data 21. Furthermore, there is a limitation in realistic expression, and thus it is unable to give an impression that the captured display screen data 21 posted on the blog is a display image of the mobile communication terminal 10 when the captured display screen data 21 is viewed.
In addition, there are cases where users record display capture images of their own mobile communication terminals 10 in a profile image of the SNS service, centering on users of mobile communication terminals 10 interested in information communication devices having a high preference in new products. Even in these cases, the type of a mobile communication terminal cannot be identified only by the captured display screen data 21, and furthermore, a variety of desires of a user cannot be satisfied.